Coronavirus – ADR / Dangerous Goods Update

Monday, April 20th, 2020

Dangerous Goods:

Due to the impact of COVID-19, the transport and logistics industry is facing unprecedented challenges. In response, the UK Government has announced a number of measures to mitigate this impact and we are working to address the particular challenges facing the dangerous goods transport industry. Below is an overview of the steps taken so far to address issues arising during this period relating to dangerous goods:

· Multilateral Agreements Signed

The UK has countersigned a multilateral agreement with other ADR States, extending the validity of all existing ADR Driver Training and Dangerous Goods Safety Adviser (DGSA) certificates due to expire between 1 March 2020 and 1 November 2020, until 30 November 2020. The UK has also countersigned a multilateral agreement which mirrors this extension for rail DGSA certificates. Both multilateral agreements have now been published online:

DfT has granted a new authorisation which permits newly qualified or requalified ADR Drivers to be able to carry dangerous goods loads without being in physical possession of their ADR licence. This is because at the current time SQA are unable to produce them. Such drivers must instead be in possession of Authorisation number 946 which can be obtained directly from the SQA upon passing the ADR driver examination. Drivers already in possession of a valid ADR licence must continue to carry it when transporting dangerous goods.